Dear
LUTSF Secretary,
I
am enclosing a report on my presentation at the Conference of the International
Association of Dance Medicine and Science, held at the New York School of
Medicine in
I
am delighted to say that, in spite of difficulties described in my report, the
reason for my being there, to promote the use of the Alexander Technique in
young dancers to help prevent injuries and careless accidents, was made well
known. The other presenters and delegates came from all over the world,
It
was a great opportunity to share our experiences; for instance I was amazed to
hear from one presenter that dancers in some Companies are still being forced
to dance with injuries. I thought that this was not happening any more. We
concluded that better education of young dancers in the care of themselves
physically and psychologically, as in the Alexander Technique, could help bring
about the end of these practices. Another presenter talked about the effects of
a dancer having a total hip replacement operation, and we were able to look at
preventing the misuse of the dancer which can lead to the necessity of having
to have an operation, and also, if an operation has to be performed, how the
use of the Alexander Technique can aid a better recovery.
There
were other instances where I was able to lend my knowledge and experience to
others, and, of course, I was learning and gaining more experience myself ... it is a continual process ... and I am very
grateful to the Lisa Ullmann Travelling Scholarship
Fund for helping me to be at the Conference. I
am going to
The
results of this work come slowly; there is no "quick fix' with the
Alexander Technique, and it requires patience and quiet persistence to teach.
However, it is extremely rewarding work, and I am passionate about it! One day
the Alexander Technique will be on every school's curriculum and there will be
less back pain and stress. I strongly believe that we should be taught
"mind and body maintenance," as a matter of necessity!
I
am about to write an article about the I.A.D.M.S. conference for the Journal of
the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique, who kindly paid my
conference fees, and who encourage me in my work. I shall, of course, mention
your assistance.
I
hope I have fulfilled some of my obligations to you. If I have missed anything,
please let me know.
Yours
sincerely
Madeleine
Samuelson
I
am writing to thank the Lisa Ullmann Travelling
Scholarship Fund trustees for their help in getting me to
My
presentation was entitled "The use of the Alexander Technique in the
prevention of hip injuries." I also gave a movement class called
"Anyone can Dance." This latter was intended to encourage freedom of
movement and expression by using the Alexander Technique, to people who felt for
one reason or another that they could not dance. Although I had only six pupils
who had to work on the not-too-clean concrete floor of a cafeteria, they all
agreed that when they danced with music at the end of the class, their
movements were more free and flowing, and, very
importantly, they had enjoyed themselves.
There
is a story to my presentation which I entitle "The Presenter's Nightmare,
or "how the use of the 'self' is mightier than the machine." I shall
be writing a report for the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique who
sponsored my conference fees.
The
purpose of my presentation was to convince the delegates that the use of the
Alexander Technique is beneficial to dancers. We were focussing on hip problems
in dancers, including total hip replacement operations. As I had been a
professional ballet dancer with the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet, had run a
I
worked on this presentation for nine months. When the conference opened I asked
advice from the conference computer expert, and found I had been misinformed
with regard to what I needed to bring with my computer. To cut a long story
short I had to buy an expensive new component. First thing in the morning on
the day of my presentation I made sure everything was working fine with my
computer and the attachment to the large screen in the hall. Several people
made their presentations before me, so my computer had to be unattached. Each
presentation followed directly after the other with a tight time schedule, and
when my computer was re-attached the picture did not appear on the large
screen!
No
matter what the expert did he couldn't get my picture on the screen ... so I
had to use Plan C ( Plan B was to use the copy disk I'd brought with me, at
great expense again, but there wasn't time to set up another computer.) Plan C
was to just get up and talk. As I am passionate about my work I found it
relatively easy and more personal to the audience, whom I involved. First of
all the audience was sympathetic and warm towards me, and I had certainly
practised what I was going to say. Secondly, I invited a member of the audience
... someone who was a dancer ... to be a "guinea pig" to demonstrate
the step my little pupil had demonstrated on video, first with unnecessary
tension in her neck and then with release. I had encouraged this by putting my
hands on her neck, and she reported that it was much easier to carry the leg
from one position to another with a released neck, with appropriate tension
(thank goodness!). This gave her better balance and enabled a much freer
movement in the hip joint.
So
really this was almost a better way to demonstrate my point. Doing steps
similar to the one she had demonstrated, a demi-grand
rond de jambe en 1'air,
could, with bad "use" produce injuries in the hip joints. Later,
during question time, I invited a questioner up on the stage to demonstrate
another point I was making regarding the poise of a person's head in its
dynamic relationship to the person's body. Again I think this method was more
convincing than material on the screen. Judging from kind and positive remarks
afterwards I think my presentation had more impact because of the non-use of
the computer, and my "use of the self," as Alexander would have put
it. I will enclose a disc of the outline of my presentation, but ask you to
return it. Thank you.
I think
I brought the use of the Alexander Technique for young dancers to people's
notice in my presentation and also in "networking" during the
Conference. Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to use my combined
experience in dance, dance teaching, the Alexander Technique and knowledge of
children at the Conference.
Yours
sincerely,
Madeleine
Samuelson White